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For other characters named Carol, see Carol. |
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Carol is a female ghoul denizen of Underworld in Fallout 3. She is the owner and proprietor of Carol's Place, keeping it running together with her partner Greta.
The two are the first same-sex couple to be portrayed in a Fallout game.
Background[]
Born in 2051,[3] Carol was 26 years old when the Great War struck, but only remembers herself as a "little girl." As her family could not afford a space in the Vaults, they had to use a public fallout shelter in D.C. They made it inside just as the nuclear weapons started to detonate. Carol's father stopped to help a family get inside the shelter, as Carol called for him. That same moment, the first detonation engulfed D.C., with her father disappearing in a bright flash of light. Carol lost consciousness, waking up a few hours later, only to discover her father's shadow "burned"[Note 1] into the concrete wall.[3]
The city burned for weeks, if not months afterward, and Carol left the shelter, hiding in the Museum of History. She was safe inside, but could hear the chaos unfold outside its walls, with the once affluent city turning into a hellish warzone. Looting and murder were the order of the day, and the nightmarish memories still give Carol pause, even two hundred years after the fact.[4] Fellow refugees arrived in the museum to seek shelter and eventually, the situation calmed down. A small community formed within, trying to make ends meet. However, the exposure to radiation during the Great War caused ghoulification. Carol went from dry, flaking skin to a complete ghoul in the span of a year, like everyone else. Some went insane while others accepted their new situation, like Carol. More and more ghouls kept wandering in, with Underworld slowly forming. Nobody bothered the ghouls and the ghouls bothered nobody.[1]
Everything improved further after she met Greta around 2217, with the two sharing a life together ever since. Carol decided to fulfill her lifelong dream of being the owner of a bed and breakfast at Greta's insistence,[Non-game 1] opening up Carol's Place. She takes care of the rooms, while Greta focuses on cuisine[5] (tailored for the particular tastes and biology of the ghouls;[Non-game 1] Carol also contributes her talents occasionally, and is known for her special squirrel stew).[6] The two also "adopted" a younger ghoul, Gob, who was like a son to Carol. She even suspects that Greta was a little jealous of him,[2] but still loved him as her own son.[7]
Though she is a ghoul with all the drawbacks that entails, she proudly wears a sundress and maintains a pleasant disposition in spite of everything she suffered.[Non-game 2] She believes that Underworld is a chance for ghouls to live as people, among their own, rather than suffer indignities as monsters to the wasteland at large. In her own words, "things are better this way for everyone."[8] However, the centuries seem to be catching up with Carol. Few of the original founders of Underworld remain there,[9] Gob left Underworld to seek his fortunes out in the wasteland, and while Carol puts up a brave face, she started to develop symptoms of depression. She is permanently tired, loses attention easily, and is no longer able to sleep a full night and regenerate, getting up at night. While Carol passes it off as a temporary problem that will resolve itself, Greta sees that something is very wrong with her love.[10] Even the customers started to notice the problems, though Carol blows off their worries.[11]
Part of the reason is likely the fact that she has lived in Underworld for 200 years, give or take, and after telling the same stories for centuries, she started to feel uninteresting, losing her luster.[12] She convinces herself everything is all right, but everyone can see that she has lost the love for her work at Carol's Place.[13]
Relationships[]
Carol is in a committed relationship with Greta,[1] since about 2217, meaning they have been together longer than most humans are alive in the wasteland.[2] Carol puts on a brave face for her partner, and tries to wave off any concerns about her well-being, claiming it is just her getting lost in her thoughts.[10][11] Regardless, her presence is enough to lift Carol's spirits just enough.[14]
Her other significant relationship is with Gob, a younger ghoul she "adopted" with Greta. He is not her biological child and it is not clear if there is even an age disparity between them, but nevertheless Carol treats him as if he was her flesh and bone.[7] She explicitly identifies herself as his mother due to this relationship, and frets over his safety like one would.[15] Gob loves her as well, but prefers to use her first name.[16]
She is well liked and respected among the Underworld ghouls, along with her establishment, as it is one of the only places for ghouls to spend their money at in Underworld (the others being the Ninth Circle or Tulip's shop).[17] Winthrop is fond of the pair and if anyone reveals they know Gob, he will tell them to leg it to Carol's Place to update his mom on his status.[18] She is also fond of Mister Crowley, who has been renting a room for a year and treats Carol with unfailing politeness.[19] The only thing that she finds off-putting is his conviction that he is going to make his fortune soon, as soon as he finds an assassin to work for him. Carol considers it to be idle threats under the influence of whiskey, a drink she absolutely hates.[20]
However, there are exceptions: Carol's competitor Ahzrukhal would like nothing more than to shut Carol's Place down as a watering hole (e.g. by killing Greta),[21] and to hook Carol up on chems to manage her depression.[22] Winthrop also routinely uses the threat of shutting down the Ninth Circle and redirecting customers to Carol's Place to keep Ahzrukhal in line.[23]
Carol immediately takes a shine to the Lone Wanderer, who is the first regular human to visit Underworld in a while, and just meeting them is enough to make her snap into her old self. That includes cracking deadpan jokes about smoothskins and their ugliness.[5][24]
Daily schedule[]
Carol has two packages assigned which govern her schedule:
- She will stay at Carol's Place throughout the day, with a sandbox package active (meaning she will talk to customers and Greta and move through the area).
- At 2 AM, she will leave and go to sleep in her bed with Greta for six hours, waking up at 8 AM and returning to run Carol's Place.
Interactions with the player character[]
Interactions overview[]
| Interactions | ||
|---|---|---|
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This character is involved in quests. | |
  |
This character rents beds. |  120.
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This character drops an ear upon death (Contract Killer). | |
Quests[]
- You Gotta Shoot 'Em in the Head: Carol can be asked about Mister Crowley, noting his idle boasts about his plan, suggesting that dealing with ghoul bigotry is not the real reason for his plans.
Other interactions[]
- Although Carol is hesitant to talk about her experiences during and since the War, she will tell her story if encouraged.
- When talking to Carol, she can be asked about Gob.
- If Megaton was blown up during The Power of the Atom and the Lone Wanderer tells Carol that they were responsible, everyone in Underworld (except Doctor Barrows, his assistant, and sometimes Tulip and Willow) becomes hostile (including Charon, even if he is currently a companion).
- If Megaton was not blown up but the Lone Wanderer killed Gob, only Carol will become hostile. Killing her in self-defense will not result in any Karma loss.
- If one mentions that Gob is likely a slave, Carol will say that she is sad for him but is glad to know he is safe. She also asks the Lone Wanderer to take a message to him.[25]
- If she is told that Gob is dead, she will become very sad and start talking about how she was "thinking about Gob" every time dialogue is started with her.[26][27] Greta will also chew the Lone Wanderer out for affecting her loved one in this manner.[28]
Inventory[]
| Apparel | Weapon | Other items |
|---|---|---|
| Dirty pre-War casualwear |
Notable quotes[]
- "You tell the same stories for 200 years, you'll feel pretty uninteresting too."
- "Oh, that's wonderful news! I'm so glad! if you see him, please tell him that his mother misses him and loves him and that I hope he's happy. But, he shouldn't come visit. It's too dangerous. No, no. He should stay put where he is."
- "My skin started to get dry and flake off. Everyone's did. It took a while, months, maybe a year. But sooner or later, everyone ended up like this. Some of them went crazy. Some of us just accepted it. After a while, other Ghouls would find their way in here and Underworld just sort of grew. No one bothered us down here, and we were happy enough to leave them alone. And once my Greta showed up, it was a good enough life for me."
Appearances[]
Carol appears only in Fallout 3.
Behind the scenes[]
- Carol states that she was "a little girl" when the bombs fell, which would seem to contradict her guide-stated age. However, a 25-year-old young adult would seem like a little girl to a ghoul over two centuries old.
- Carol is included in a number of Underworld conversations, though several of these are bugged or unimplemented, such as a set of reactions to Greta's death.
- If Greta dies and then the player talks to Carol, when selecting the dialogue option "You're taking Greta's death really hard, aren't you?" Carol at the end of her dialogue says, "Where do you go from there?" Although the sentence is read correctly in the voice line, the subtitles and in-game text contain a typo that reads "Where do you do from there?" instead.
- Upon exiting dialogue, Carol will occasionally say "You're not bad... for a human," likely a reference to the same line spoken by the android Bishop in the 1986 film Aliens.
References[]
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Non-game
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.75: "Greta
Greta and Carol have been together for a long time. In fact, it was Greta who convinced Carol to open Carol's Place. Carol takes care of the desk while Greta cooks and serves the food. Well, most humans wouldn't call it food, but Ghouls have superhuman intestinal fortitude."
(Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition Wasteland Census) - ↑ Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.65: "Carol
Carol is perhaps the sweetest Ghoul you'll ever meet. The fact that she's a hideously deformed Ghoul hasn't stopped her from wearing a sundress, smiling pleasantly, or sharing a warm hello with anyone who crosses her path. Carol won't say how old she is, but it's generally understood that she's been around since before the bombs fell. She always wanted to open a bed and breakfast, and Carol's Place is her dream come true, although everyone has noticed that she's been a bit down lately. She is also has a son, Gob, who's carrying an the family tradition as a barkeep in Megaton."
(Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition Wasteland Census)
Notes
- ↑ Technically speaking, the shadow wasn't burned, as the thermal radiation boiled her father off. His silhouette simply blocked the radiation from affecting the wall behind him, leaving a "shadow" that's just a normally colored wall surrounded by a surface bleached clean by the radiation.
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